10 Practical Film Effects You Probably Thought Were CGI
7. The Mutilations From The Evil Dead Remake
The Evil Dead remake may not have earned itself as many fans as Sam Raimi's original movies, but youd struggle to argue that it wasnt excellent visually. The film was a veritable cornucopia of eye-pleasing gory mutilations, and, better still this was achieved almost entirely without the use of CGI. Except for a few digitally added blood splats here and there, everything you see in the film was actually captured on camera.
This includes the memorable impaled-tongue scene, very creepy makeup, and even the scene pictured above where Elizabeth Blackmores character Natalie cuts off her own arm with an electric carving knife. It would have been much easier for director Fede Alvarez to hire a CGI company to throw together a gory amputation for him, so youve got to admire his dedication to practical effects.
Thats a fake limb youre seeing in that scene, and Blackmores own arm must be strapped down under her top. It looks mightily realistic, though, and the smart editing and framing establishing the scene in a wide shot and then barely cutting away until the arm is removed really helps make this gory moment effectively wince-inducing.